Last year during punditry discussions of North Korea, the traditional crowd were waxing philosophically about military expansionism, and the threat of nuclear war as a likely outcome.

However, all of those Gordian-knot sellers held references from a fundamentally flawed foundation; they viewed the DPRK as a separate nation from China. There were a few voices who challenged geopolitical orthodoxy and presented a different view; the DPRK as a proxy province of China.

When you think of North Korea as a proxy province of China, everything changes. Every possible action and consequence changes. If the DPRK is inherently a proxy province of Beijing, then North Korea already had nuclear weapons; or at least access to nuclear weapons as needed; the argument to stop them was moot.

Additionally, if Beijing was structurally and factually controlling Pyongyang, attaining a peaceful Korean peninsula between Kim Jong-un and his South Korean neighbor Moon Jae-in, was entirely different.

The first step in achieving less hostility becomes removing the ruse behind the China-DPRK disconnect.

The first step in removing the ruse is to treat China as having full control over the problem.

Now, it must be pointed out that no-one prior to President Trump would have ever gamed-out how to do this. Heck, no-one prior to President Trump would ever admit that North Korea was essentially a proxy province of China.

The paradigm shift therein is so consequential, as evidenced in the 2017 analysis of doom, none of the intellectual set could/would even fathom it. Hence, almost none of the smart set could/would accurately discuss how to solve the issue, or even understand what POTUS Trump was doing. In essence their points of debate were built upon a false premise.

Hopefully, with hindsight now becoming less opaque, more people are realizing the outcome(s) today are entirely because the Trump approach was looking at a different problem. President Trump’s solution came from accepting a relationship that was factually evident. This is what happened.

Almost no western (U.S. or EU) media seem to understand the historic concepts behind the cultures of communist China and Asia in the world of strategic politics. Because they don’t understand the outlook, U.S. media cannot fathom solving problems.

There is no doubt President Trump thought out a long-term strategy regarding North Korea and China. The approach was evident in how President Trump presented his messaging toward the people of China. He clearly understood Beijing’s preferred panda image was a mask.

President Trump played the game and very publicly discussed friendship toward Chairman Xi Jinping. Consistent praise for Chairman Xi based on his character, strength and purposeful leadership retained the panda approach.

To build upon that projected and strategic message – President Trump seeded the background by appointing Ambassador Terry Branstad, a 30-year personal friend of President Xi Jinping.

To enhance and amplify the message President Trump used Mar-a-Lago as the venue for their first visit, not the White House. And President Trump’s beautiful granddaughter, Arabella, sweetly serenaded the Chinese First Family twice in Mandarin Chinese song showing the utmost respect for the guests and later for the hosts.

Why the constant warm messaging? What was the purpose? What did all this have to do with a geopolitical confrontation, and North Korea?

It’s really rather simple actually. President Trump played to the panda image, while understanding that Beijing fully controlled Pyongyang – the red dragon aspect.

Historic Chinese geopolitical policy, vis-a-vis their totalitarian control over political consequences, and their diplomacy through silence, is evident in the strategic use of the space between carefully chosen words, not just the words themselves.

Each time China takes aggressive action (red dragon), or instructs an aggressive action to take place (via Kim Jong-un), China projects a panda face through silence and non-response to opinion of that action;…. and the action continues. Wash, rinse, repeat.

The red dragon will say one necessary thing publicly, while manipulating another necessary thing completely privately. The Art of War.

President Trump was the first U.S. President to understand how the red dragon hides behind the panda mask and plays the same game. It was specifically because Trump understood the Panda is a mask that President Trump messages warmth toward the Chinese people, and pours vociferous praise upon Xi Jinping, while simultaneously confronting the geopolitical doctrine -the outcomes- of the Xi regime.

In essence President Trump mirrored the behavior of Chairman Xi while confronting their economic and military duplicity within North Korea.

China has no cultural or political space between peace and war; they are a historic nation based on two points of polarity. They see peace and war as coexisting with each other.

China accepts and believes opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and they may give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another. Flowing between these polar states is a natural dynamic to be used -with serious contemplation- in advancing objectives as needed.

Peace or war. Win or lose. Yin and Yang. Culturally there is no middle position in dealings with China; they are not constitutionally capable of understanding or valuing the western philosophy of mutual benefit where concession of terms gains a larger outcome. If it does not benefit China, it is not done. The outlook is simply, a polarity of peace or war. In politics or economics the same perspective is true. It is a zero-sum outlook.

President Trump aligned all activity to benefit China ONLY IF the North Korean challenge was solved.

As an outcome, China has now begun openly displaying the relationship with North Korea previously kept hidden.

Technically, there is no denuclearization of North Korea because China has nuclear weapons and China always controlled North Korea. However, President Trump has removed the veil covering the secret without technically confronting it head-on.

In the future, North Korea will likely be as much of a communist system as China. The key changes will be the action inside the buffer-zone between communism (China, Chairman Xi Jinping) and democracy (South Korea, President Moon Jae-in).

This new reality we see today the first official notation of Kim Jong-un as “Chairman” Kim Jong-un:

I had productive meetings in Pyongyang with Chairman Kim Jong-un and made progress. I'm delighted to bring home three Americans.

North Korea will now enter a geopolitical phase of economic activity and expansion similar to China 1995 through today. Chairman Xi (Big Panda), will guide his protégé Chairman Kim (Little Panda) in all matters of strategic economics, thereby guaranteeing the continuance of his influence.

It will be interesting to watch how the North Korean people interact with the South Korean people. A similar litmus or reference point, albeit not as stark, was available in how Beijing interacted with Hong Kong when China took over.

The natural flow of freedom is toward organic expansion if not held-down by controlling and oppressive government.

China has always known that NK had a shelf life. It has gone long past expiration date due to chumps in the WH. I don’t think it is much more complicated than that. China is getting the salvage out of NK.

China, being a communist dictatorship, has a much longer attention span. My guess is that they have a very clear idea of what they want the new NK to be. My guess is they will get it, simply because they know what they want. I doubt that we know what we want.

Kim learned a lot from his father and is well aware of the regional dynamics. His future does not lie with being a vassal of China. Everthing he needs economically lies in SK. By expanding the special economic zone to the entire country he will gain employment for his workers. As China has demonstrated when the workers are happy they have less time to plot against the government.

Cheez, China having a control over NK – who’d have thought it? We sorta had a hint in October of 1950 when fellow Communist revolutionary Mao rolled in and saved Kim Il-sung’s cookies.

NK will be allowed to reach some level of reapprochement with the South but you won’t see reunification – China will not allow an American client state on its borders any more than it would see the Russians back into NK. NK is a part of China’s militarization of the Sea of Japan – where the US, Japan and Russia roam, but especially the Yellow Sea and the access it affords to a vital area of China including Beijing. NK’s a vital cutout for things China sells that folks don;t want China to sell. NK’s there to stay.

I’d like to know what part Zhou Yongkang played in China’s relations with NK but, so solly, his sudden disappearance from China’s ruling elite and landing in a Chinese prison for life quickly put him outta the lime light. Xi’s playing godfather but who Kim’s handler is now is at echelons above my retirement. Kim’s last two sudden visits to kneel at Xi’s feet have chastened him, he’s less Rocketman and more Tiny Tim, let’s see what narrative Xi instilled in Kim in his latest Beijing meeting. Kim’s secret visit so close to his Trump meeting undoubtedly had to do with some last minute coaching on what and what not to say, I’m sure Xi wasn’t about to let nutjob go talking off the top of his head to Trump.

Interesting that the meeting will be in Singapore – bet Kim’s flight won’t stop in Kuala Lampur for coffee and fuel.

People want to see unification but all of the political players want things as thery are.
Let’s see if the North and South will end the war, pare back on the DMZ and reopen that joint North/South manufacturing complex that brought much needed hard currency into the North.
I don’t see much of a easing of North/South cultural interchange but bthey may restart the family visits. One sure thing is gthat if the North gets too much exposure to the South’s real socio-cultural-economic status it’s gonna be hard for Kim to keep ’em down on the farm.

If China wants to “win” the long game, then accommodating the US is in its best interests. The USA may not be a fully neutral referee, but South Asia has a long history of grievances between nations, starting with China and Japan, in which the US can be a counterbalance to the extremists on both sides.

If China choses increased militarization then they will find their match in the USA, and more than a match, from a country that has the weapons, the technology, the imagination and the will to act.

China plays the long game, its outlook isn’t as ‘immediate’ as the US’s is, it has a whole nuther concept of time.
I believe China will concentrate on securing its ‘near abroad’, becomin ‘the’ industrial power and move its sphere of influence outward in a calculated and controlled manner. It’s in no hurry to become ‘the’ super power.
China’s imperial period alone lasted for some 2000 years before it dissolved, they have that background, still fresh in their memories, and a few hundred years of humiliation by Western and Japan to chew on for direction.
“Let her (China) sleep for when she awakes she will shake the world.” Napoleon.

NK will be allowed to reach some level of reapprochement with the South but you won’t see reunification – China will not allow an American client state on its borders any more than it would see the Russians back into NK. . .

True, but that means that we and the Chinese will have to agree to make the unified Korea a neutral state, something like Finland, and agree that the new Korea will participate in both economic spheres. Not an easy arrangement to create, but it could be done, perhaps with Japanese and Russian participation. I think President Trump could pull it off. /LEJ

This was mentioned last year when the whole world was melting down over “nuclear war” threats. The idea was that five-state talks would be invoked by the Norks and that would be stellar. Well, how about five-state oversight of the economic and international interests of the Korean sphere? Could be done, but I’d hate to see our South Korean allies subjected to this!

Problem is that China and Japan still haven’t ended WWII, they both poke each other at regular intervals. Even if Japan apologizes officially to China for WWII – don’t think I’ll live to see that – in a manner the Chinese don’t believe is Japan giving them the finger…it’s gonna take time.
No one trusts the Russians, period. Russia entered WWII in the Pacific just days before Japan surrendered and grabbed land from everyone. China may have mutual defense and trade agreements with Russia but they ain’t going tgo be sharing cabins on a Carnival cruise any time soon.
I agree that China’s looking for a more neutral arrangement, sorta like ex-spouses sharing the same house but they want NK to stay under their sway. As it is, the US in the South sorta drives a wedge in the Chinese militarization of the oceans and gives the US deep access to the Yellow Sea.
Personally I’d like to see the North give the South the ability to freely broadcast TV, radio and internet to the North – the North would last about 15 minutes. One of the ways the South would use to turn captured North agents was to put them in a car, give them an envelope full of cash and drive them into the shopping districts of Seoul. Most of the time it worked – the guy would recover from the huge dose of truth and flip like a pajun. Wanna destroy the North? Introduce a US or Chinese mall.

I agree that China’s looking for a more neutral arrangement, sorta like ex-spouses sharing the same house but they want NK to stay under their sway. As it is, the US in the South sorta drives a wedge in the Chinese militarization of the oceans and gives the US deep access to the Yellow Sea.

Unification will require both China and the US to give up the halves “under their sway.” A neutral Korea could help to ameliorate regional tensions, by recognizing China’s de facto increased strength (since the Korean War), and removing the American military presence from the peninsula. A neutral Korea would likely become a trade broker between the world’s two largest economies.

The Yellow Sea is arguably a Chinese playground. The South China Sea is arguably much more important to the US—as is Taiwan, but that’s another story. /LEJ

Both countries will ‘give up’ control without ‘giving up’ control – it will be a diplomatic compromise. I think that the US will have an agreement with the South, just as China will with the North, that if needed we’ll be back.

The Yellow Sea gives whoever controls it direct access to Beijing and a lot of other important areas. China’s already claimed the South China Sea, including territorial waters of Vietnam and the Philippines, the Yellow and Sea of Japan are part of their naval security zone, and that’s going to bang up right against Japan and Russia. I’m betting China feels that if they push the US off the peninsula the arguement with who owns what water is just down to Japan, Russia, Korea and the Big Kid on the Block.

You may be right, but will the we pull our troops out without the North opening the border? And once that happens there’ll be a flood to the South, a “Tear down this wall” moment. Full unification would be the only solution at that point. The Chinese would insist on a neutral, non-aligned government (maybe joint N-S?).

That would be an incredible coup for Mr Trump, but it may be that at this stage we’ll have to be content with de-nuclearization of the North and negotiations about reunification down the road.

I don’t think we’re going to let China take over the South China Sea. /LEJ

Baby steps – first we make sure that the peninsula is not a loose grenade rolling around, we gotta put the pin in and tape the handle down. I think Trump’s doing that.
Next problem is going to be Taiwan, China’s built a huge offensive machine on the mainland right across the straits and has been making really offensive naval and air feints at Taiwan. China’s adamant that Taiwan’s not a country but a runaway province – will China play tit-for-tat saying ‘we gave you NK, you give us Taiwan’?
I don’t believe vwe’ll see a united Korea, more like some Mexican standoff. Look at the NKs who’ve flooded into China – imagine what would happen were the 38th parallel to open.

I’ll bert China will push in the South China Sea until it has developed technologies that will allow it to control the Sea with less of an overt force. It’s been working on kinetic energy missile systems that target US carriers, it’s working on a fleet of silent nuke subs, underwater drones, swarming drones and I’m sure they’re working on a generation of mines that will be a game changer. They’ll continue to build those islands to base forces – how are we going to stop them – and increase their blue water and littoral forces. Let’s see if we work with Japan and Vietnam on basing – and maybe reopen our Philippine bases too.

China’s closely monitoring how we fight and copying/working on blocks. They readily caught onto our ability to resupply our forces is our main point, we just don’t outrun our supply lines. They’re working on breaking our lines while developing their lift capacities but are more defensive than offensive right now. My favorite ‘rumor’ is thst they have a unit working on the Chinese so they can manipulate genes to create a super-soldier. Considering what they’ve done so far I wouldn’t put it past them.

China’s creating its own DARPA but where we have an agency they create a small city to developing militatry technology. They’ll secure their near abroad then settle into neutralizing threats one by one. They’re already zeroed in on India, focused on Japan and I’m betting Australia’s on their radar. They’ve got the money, they have the means and they have a population that can be focused.

“Culturally there is no middle position in dealings with China; they are not constitutionally capable of understanding or valuing the western philosophy of mutual benefit where concession of terms gains a larger outcome. If it does not benefit China, it is not done.”

__________________

Submit or die, that’s what you’re saying, or at least that’s how it comes across.

Humans are social (and sociable) creatures. While psychopaths sadly often rise to positions of leadership through violence and deceit, that’s not how most people are or want to be.

I have a topic that hasnt been discussed yet. What about all the dead? The imprisoned, the tortured, the missing? They had/have death camps. A smiling Un in a candid photo with Pompeo is positive, but the history is unresolved. There are families who have been separated for decades that may not be happy with Un and his military cohorts remaining.
Maybe its too early to get into it. Those families deserve justice and peace.

Heck, no-one prior to President Trump would ever admit that North Korea was essentially a proxy province of China.

Agreed but there’s also many factors in play here.
Not least of which is that ~ 90% of North Korea’s trade is with China, so economically, they’re inevitably aligned.

Crucially, it’s important to emphasise that Kim Jong-un is not his father, Kim Jong-il – not by a long stretch.

While both are/were dictators, “rocket man” isn’t the ideologue his father was. That’s important and makes a big difference to his outlook. Educated in the west, he’s also struggled to establish his place as the next “dear leader” and has sought to bolster this in other ways.
His so called “nuclear ambitions” are the platform used to rally the support of “his people” – nothing new there.
China also hasn’t been pleased with these escalating nuclear ambitions and haven’t wanted a North Korean regime collapse either.

Anyway . . fast forward to today, and if we observe Kim Jong-un’s demeanour at that meeting with South Korea’s Moon, he appears to be quite relaxed and not at all displaying the strained diplomatic smiles of previous official meetings. He looks like a man with the weight of the world lifted from his shoulders.
Look also at the above pic with Mike Pompeo – he’s happy.

In many ways, liberating North Korea also liberates Kim Jong-un. That said, there’s still a lot of hurdles to overcome in this peace deal and plenty of opportunity for things to go wrong.

In the fullness of time, a Mar-a-Lago visit might well be on the cards, I reckon.
That’ll make some heads explode. Ha . .

Jung-un could have a huge legacy as a major reformer – we have seen Glasnost, and Solidarnosk, and the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the fall of Apartheid, and before my time was the Chinese Cultural Revolution.

Jung-un could go for the reform of NK.

What stands in the way? Who knows. His / NKpower hierarchy would have to accept his agenda, or there wil be mutiny / coup as the others strive to keep their power.

Does China stand in the way? Um, they have been a puppet of China. But they can only acknowledge the Leash so much before everyone points and says, “Ha! We always knew it! You had them on a leash, antagonizing us through an intermediary! And boy are we pissed! And now that you admit it, we can slam you with that legacy.!”

NK could get buy-in from SK, and other affiliations – form US, but also from these other places they have connections with – Iran, some African nations, etc. – if all of those were genuine NK relations, and not as puppet of China.

So, if Jung-un opts to go for a free-er NK, the path is there, but he will have to tread delicately.

Comparing what VSGPOTUS Trump is doing to the fall of Apartheid is shallow thinking 🤔 in the extreme. Whereas the fall of the Berlin Wall brought a better life to those in East Germany 🇩🇪, the fall of Apartheid did nothing for the Black population or the White population in South Africa.

During Apartheid Black unemployment was around 3% today the official rate is 27% but if those that have given up looking for work it is closer to 55%.

After Apartheid fell and the SACPZANC took POWER, the first thing they did was close all teacher training colleges, changed nursing to a four year degree, replaced all the Whites in Government positions with uneducated cadres (uneducated due to the SACPZANC policy of ‘Freedumb before education), stole all the mineral rights of land owners and started the war on White farmers claiming they owned 80% of fertile ground in SA.

This claim was and is ludicrous as the Tribal Lands of the Zulu and Xhosa are by far the most fertile land in SA, but the SACPZANC has declared that nobody may own any land in the Tribal Areas (under Apartheid only Whites were forbidden from owning any Tribal Land and the Chiefs would not seem any to their Black serfs). This resulted in the Whites learning to farm some of the most arid land in the world but in reality it is not the land that the anczanc want, but the infrastructure that the White farmers have created over the past 250 years.

Today it is more dangerous to be a farmer in SA than to be a combatant in any war ravaging the planet today. Fortunately Australia is now facilitating visas for these farmers to move to Oz to start farming and making sure Australia becomes a nett exporter of wheat and maize. The loss of life since Apartheid fell is around 700,000 due to murder alone and around 600,000 due to the AIDS pandemic that the SACPZANC refused to supply antiretrovirals to.

What VSGPOTUS Trump is doing will hopefully bring peace and stability to a very volatile region where those starving today will have a future of peace and prosperity. Never again compare Apartheid’s downfall to anything President Trump achieves.

svenwg,
Good speed, Sir. A very informative and well composed post. I hope a lot of Treepers take the time to read it.

A member of my family whose family immigrated to this country in the early ’80’s to escape the aftermath of Apartheid has similar stories to tell.
Most folks here think the fall of Apartheid cured all ills in South Africa. Not so by a long shot.

Sundance, can I ask you for clarification, or maybe just tell us again, about the future condition of North Korea? Did you say that NK will become more of a provincial part of China, and less of a pretend rogue Commie dictatorship threatening the West with nuclear missiles? Much less involved with foreign relations but but allowed to benefit from a measure of integration into China’s economy? The Korean war was in my lifetime so I’ve always thought NK was China’s puppet.

China has ignored the very real suffering of the malnourished North Korean population. NK was treated very badly if NK was actually a positive asset of China. I figured that is because China considers Koreans a distinct foreign people deserving of disdain.

A couple of weeks ago I posted that Trump might be freeing NK to mesh with SK, leading to unification of Korea. This is possible because the Nork kingdom just isn’t viable on its own. If China reduces support from the current level then mass starvation could break out in an isolated NK.

But I suppose China can build the Nork economy and while preventing North Koreans from migrating into China. This would keep the Nork Little Panda buffer between the Western outpost on the mainland, South Korea, and the communist Middle Kingdom dragon. I’m hoping POTUS can free North Korea- but that might be a bridge too far.

There is already the Kaesong indusrial zone which a joint NK/SK venture. South Korea now can redirect more of its industrial needs to NK. I do not think Kim or Moon want China or to help the Chinese economy.

Hi Chris Four, TY. I agree with you, certainly both SK and NK want North Korea out of Beijing’s control, out of China’s influence too. The two K’s can recombine, and best for everyone if they unify under VSGPDJT’s tutelage. The globalists and Sork socialists would make a poor outcome out of unification, if they do it without P Trump.

Today’s article leads me to think Sundance currently believes NK will denuclearize and stop being an international trouble-maker, but continue as an unofficial province of the ChiComs, albeit with a improved economy and living standards.

As I hypothesized a while back, this was a no-brainer for Lil’ Kim. The only question was whether the western propaganda painting him as completely crazy was true or not, or was he actually reasonably smart. I’d say he is reasonably smart. The propaganda was no doubt rationalization by western liberals to explain how after all their bribery and weakness, the little commie still refused to hold hands and play ball.

Kim had a binary choice, thanks to Trump and his actual sanctions demanded from our allies, the real threat of overthrow ( not to mention Trump’s patented intentional unpredictability ). Kim could persist in being a pest like a puppy biting your ankles and risk getting stomped flat, or cash in the tremendous number of chips he and his father earned playing poker with our previous incompetent leaders. The gambling analogy is good IMHO, and like a winner piling up his chips who sees the casino just changed dealers, Kim decided to head to the cashier cage and survive unscathed. And why not? He knows the west will worship the ground he walks on if he stays within the rules they set. Red carpets ( his favorite color ), banquets and diplomatic praise await him if he steps into the 21st century and plays the game with our elitist know-nothing leaders and their diplomats.

And he really had to do almost nothing here to accomplish it, and that is why it is such a no-brainer. Release a few hostages, sell us his plutonium stockpile, breeder reactors, and related equipment, sign a trety and promise to be good and its over. He doesn’t even lose face amongst his starving North Korean sheep as they see him as an infallible deity descended from God, so he literally can’t lose face since that is not possible for a deity ( I think it was on NatGeo, a documentary of the western eye surgeons that went to North Korea and helped many patients see for the first time, and these folks immediately gazed upon the Kim photos on every wall to see the face of their savior for the first time ). 65 years of pure indoctrination. At the end of this, all the starving sheep will soon see is a deluge of international food and aid and construction in the North as we all save them our tax dollars. And deity Kim of course gets the credit. He saved them.

As I just posted in another thread, there is danger that the hapless moonies of South Korea will go for unification. If Li’l Kim is smart, and it is beginning to look that way, he might just emulate the strategy seen from his point of view of what East Germany and Merkel successfully achieved. Rather than invading the West with tanks, they just strolled through checkpoint Charlie into open arms. And then the Stasi got themselves the prize with Merkel elected Reichsfuher in Berlin without firing a shot. Then they kicked the gate open to the middle eastern barbarians and all of western Europe is now under siege.

With the moonies in charge of South Korea there should be little doubt they will lovingly embrace the communists, welcome them in and then promptly elect Kim President perhaps in a decade or so. After all, the South Koreans decided rather than moving their capitol away from bordering the DMZ some 65 years ago, they instead built it up into a metropolis containing half their entire population, all within slingshot range of the North. And then we were stupid enough to enable this by making Seoul a hub of international stock market activity and also by positioning tens of thousands of our troops their to be their protectors and cannon fodder. The sooner this is over the better … for us.

I remember during German unification thinking that surely they will arrest and try the Stasi guards who shot and killed hundreds of Berlin Wall jumpers. I mean, the dead escapees had families and friends who would never forget, right? Wrong. Down the memory hole they went. Watch for this after Korean unification. Watch the Moonies bury the dead North Korean attempted-defectors right down the same memory hole too. Liberal westerners are almost as bad as hard core leftists because they make reckless decisions whenever they have the power to do so. But none of this detracts from what President Trump has nearly accomplished. Regardless of how the Koreans screw this up in the long term, Trump has earned his first Nobel.

Meanwhile on Derp-TV, Fox wrangles up panel of panel of talking empty heads ( even super-putz Judith Miller ) to lecture us all about how to deal with Korea and all foreign policy. Derp, Derpity, Derp Derp Derp.

Lots of interesting details, but the idea that “Chairman” Kim is or will be in charge of anything that is not sanctioned by the Chinese is a long shot. What will the Chinese permit to corral that festering sore (old NorK), now that it no longer gives cover to international spread of Chinese communist-capitalist-one-roadism, terrorism, etc. Slave labor was/is also used by both Russia and China from my reading.

I watched Bret last night and the panel all had a stern warning for Trump about Kim. Like Trump is just to stupid to know what to do. I almost can’t watch Fox anymore, even Hannity is getting on my last nerve with his constant drama. I think he needs MEDS.

Very interesting analysis, Blade. I agree that unification is likely in the cards (something the Cold War blinded US administrations to), but you neglect the Chinese elephant in the room: they will never permit unification under the American-allied South Korean government. The new Korea will have to be non-allied, neutral, perhaps like Singapore. Whether Kim would have a role down the road is impossible to say; he would doubtless be happy with a villa in Switzerland. /LEJ

Growing up in the ’50’s I remember everyone saying North Korea is a Soviet surrogate, or a Chinese surrogate, depending on who was talking. I think when Stalin died and the armistice it created a permanent case of meh Korea for the Soviets who were getting spread way too thin and were undergoing deStalinization. So that left Mao to hold it together and make sure their Communist showpiece didn’t collapse, and that meant many more mouthes to feed ( and we all know just how well Mao fed hungry mouthes ). But hold it together they did, probably at the threat of taking the raving Kim Il-Sung out to a woodshed.

But its different now. IIRC there have been over the decades lots of North Koreans trying to cross into China where they expected a better life, and this became the focus of China holding North Korea together. It was to keep them there, in North Korea. I doubt that today, head commie Xi wants 20 million more mouthes to feed and all the attendant problems those refugees would bring in. It is like us with Mexico.

So my guess is that China couldn’t care less if they unify under any idealogical umbrella because the alternative of a failed North Korea is assimilating 20 million people trying to compete for all those jobs that China’s carefully managed society has created and protected ( and that Trump has cleverly put under severe risk by pressing the trade deficit issues and tariffs simultaneously with Korea nukes ). Thanks to Trump’s cleverness North Korea’s fortunes are now tied closely with our China renegotiations because a failed North Korea means the equivalent of a massive tariff on China.

If I was Xi, I would have told Lil Kim in their meeting last week, Good Luck and Go for it! You got my blessing. But who knows what they are really thinking in China. I know from my point of view, the sooner we wash our hands of South Korea the better. Let’s just itemize and send them a bill for services rendered ( protecting their ridiculously located capitol for 65 years ) like we should have done with reunified Germany, not to mention western Europe with the Marshall Plan. And now NATO too.

Great post. Very agreed on the Merkel strategy for Kimster. It’s too easy. Like you say, a no-brainer.

You just gave me a thought. Hillary and her fellow swamp menaces at KGB-CIA are probably already trying to come up with a scheme to pull another Uranium One with Kim’s fissionables. If it can be converted to money in the dark, Cankles surely wants in on the action.

“However, all of those Gordian-knot sellers held references from a fundamentally flawed foundation; they viewed the DPRK as a separate nation from China.”

That’s true, but in my mind an even bigger mistake was to view DPRK as separate from the CIA, and I believe that is becoming better known.

Events of the last year have caused me to adjust my worldview. (Well, not really–they have caused me to radically reconstruct my world view.)

I believe I now understand that Qadaffi was not the monster constructed in our minds by the media, polticians and globalist string-pullers. He was deposed and murdered for resisting the New World Order.

I have only skimmed this article.
I do agree that China (or the old communist guard) did control Kim, but this is not the whole story.
You see there were and are many traitors in the world. Yes many in the US and at the highest levels (even CIA elements). These were the real controllers of Kim and the real story is President Trump freed Kim from these controllers, which makes there whole scheme implode..

Some Americans sure have a need to make the CIA the most all-powerful evil villain in all the world. They (some CIA leaders) might wish, but there are other Real Borg players in today’s world. I think we need facts to control paranoia — and maybe, just maybe, the current investigations will bring some fascinating – and world changing – facts to light. Next, can Americans act on them?

“Peace or war. Win or lose. Yin and Yang. Culturally there is no middle position in dealings with China; they are not constitutionally capable of understanding or valuing the western philosophy of mutual benefit where concession of terms gains a larger outcome. If it does not benefit China, it is not done. The outlook is simply, a polarity of peace or war. In politics or economics the same perspective is true. It is a zero-sum outlook.”

For the past 25 years or so, we have looked at China and NoKo strictly through political eyes and gotten nowhere! Enter a business man with a lot of savvy and foresight and look what happens!

Irony here. The DemonKKKrats keep saying things about our VSG that are bass ackwards. Sure nuff, they screamed nuclear war, WWIII, etc. Once again, our President had exactly the opposite effect. He approached NOKO/China from a business standpoint. Political POV got us in a subservient position (NOKO/China/Iran) every time. The business model is getting us off our knees or out of a deep bow and back into a position of strength.

Been listening all my life to politicians telling me how “complex” or “difficult” everything is. As an Engineer in the private sector my boss always told me that’s why he paid me the big bucks. To solve his complex, difficult problems!

Great to have a problem solver in charge! Oh, it helps that he doesn’t owe anyone any favors and loves our country as much as I do.

Not everyone is “wired” the same way. There are the “logical” ones where if: A=B and B=C, then A=C. The other group, I call the “spiral”. There is no logic to anything they say or do. They will start off on a topic, start circling up and hit a different and unrelated topic, spiral again, and so on. There is no reason, and no logic to any of their actions, reactions, and thoughts. Don’t try to understand them. You never will. Just know they exist.They think differently. I try to stay away from them.

I am so thankful to God for what our great President Trump is doing with respect to NK.
I do continue to hope and pray for an eventual reunification of Korea so that the people of the North and South can live in peace and the people of the North will not ever be tortured again.

Love this site, but this article starts out completely wrong. Foreign policy orthodoxy has long viewed NK as a China proxy, Trump’s innovation is that he doesn’t see it that way. After all, Kim outraged China when he assassinated his brother, who China had been keeping on ice in case they needed a replacement for him at some point. To be sure, Trump put pressure on China, and China has the ability to influence NK, but seeing them as a mere China proxy has been one of the biggest mistakes with NK over the years.

Perhaps trade is more important than war for the Chinese. NK disarming solves to problems for Xi – stops the refugee problems from NK and gives him a chip in tariff talks with the US.

For the USA shows our strength and power in the world stage without going to war and fulfills President Trump’s promise that putting America First benefits our Country-that we are not beholding to the proposed New World Order.

I thought it interesting that Leon Panetta was commenting that Trump had no plan for China or Iran and that the world is a dangerous place, so therefore, Trump should do like the “experts” such as Panetta do and continue diplomacy the way “it’s always been done”. And I’m thinking “If your diplomacy works, why is the world such a dangerous place?” Why has North Korea taken advantage of “diplomacy” to develop nuclear weapon capability over the past 25 years of conventional “diplomacy”? How has Iran turned into a potential loose nuclear cannon in the Middle East after 40 years of conventional “diplomacy”? The hubris of these career bureaucrats is quite startling.

China controls North Korea.
North Korea has been collaborating closely with Iran to develop nuclear weapons and ICBMs.
China has been collaborating with Iran to develop nuclear weapons and ICBM’s.
Iran is the prime mover for Islamic jihad and terrorism.
China is a prime enabler of Iran.

China is the key to nearly ALL of the geopolitical problems confronting the United States.